Jude Bellingham scored his 11th goal in all competitions for Madrid this week against Braga but he was taken off during the final minutes of the match with a suspected injury.
The midfielder has been on fire for Real Madrid since joining them in the summer and against Braga he scored the winning goal in the 61st minute. However, his hobbling off in the 89th minute was an immediate cause of concern.
Real Madrid failed to sign a world-class striker during the summer window and right now, it’s Jude Bellingham who has been shouldering all the goalscoring load for the club so if he misses the upcoming El Clasico with an injury, it will be a huge blow for Carlo Ancelotti.
Thankfully, the Madrid manager has revealed that the England midfielder’s withdrawal was just a precaution and he will be available to play against Barcelona this weekend.
“He is ok. His adductors are a bit charged because the pitch was a bit soft. But nothing special. He will recover,” Ancelotti said after the match(via Marca).
“He is ok. He is a bit tired, like everybody else. But that’s normal.”
The 20-year-old has scored 11 goals in 12 appearances for the Los Blancos and he currently has a rating of 8.43 out of 10 which is staggering for someone who’s been in Spain for only a few months.
Madrid have scored 21 league goals this season and out of those eight have been scored by Jude Bellingham who’s been playing in an advanced midfield role at Madrid.
Carlo Ancelotti has been using four midfielders this season(in various formations) and for Saturday, the Italian manager is expected to use Bellingham and Valverde as the two attacking midfielders with Tchouameni and Camavinga as the two deep-lying midfielders.
Toni Kroos and Luka Modric have been used sparingly this season and we don’t think either of them will get starts against Barcelona. If needed, these two will come off the bench in the second half.
Barcelona are just one point behind Real Madrid so anything other than a win and Xavi’s team will catch up with the league leaders.
